A few meteorite specimens...

[OXO]

Mind you it's going to be a tough choice this evening between crawling around my guttering dragging a powerful magnet behind me or browsing e.bay with a glass of chilled Chardonnay in my hand....

:D

Cheers John

James 8)

[OXO]

Hi John,

Ive picked one from the site you gave a link to, Gao-Guenie 15.0g @ £15.00 as soon as i looked at it Meteorite i knew i wanted it weird eh...

8)

James

[Andrew*]

no experience or knowledge about all of this, but it makes interesting reading. Nice point John made last

I've got some drawing pins. They're attracted to a magnet... (but also to the bottom of my feet... any scientific explanation?)

AP

[OXO]

(but also to the bottom of my feet... any scientific explanation?

Ya been standing on them again eh?

James

[geppetto]

Fascinating stuff guys 8)

Will we get a picture when it arrives James?

[John]

Hi John,

Ive picked one from the site you gave a link to, Gao-Guenie 15.0g @ £15.00 as soon as i looked at it Meteorite i knew i wanted it weird eh...

8)

James

Thats a great choice James - a very interesting "witnessed fall" from Africa - I'd love to see a pic when you get it.

Witnessed falls are important because samples can be gathered and analysed when they are still "fresh" ie: relatively unaffected by the Earth's climate.

John.

[OXO]

Thanks John,

Ill post some pics when it arrives and also one or two using my microscope

James

[OXO]

http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/meteorite-blog/

This is an interesting link

[John]

http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/meteorite-blog/

This is an interesting link

That is an interesting link James - thanks.

Interestingly most governments have now slapped a ban on exporting meteorites - Australia is particularly tight on this requiring specific export approval for each and every specimen. That said I doubt that meteorites are top of the list for the customs and security people when your baggage is being searched before flying home !!.

John.

[The Warthog]

http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/meteorite-blog/

This is an interesting link

That is an interesting link James - thanks.

Interestingly most governments have now slapped a ban on exporting meteorites - Australia is particularly tight on this requiring specific export approval for each and every specimen. That said I doubt that meteorites are top of the list for the customs and security people when your baggage is being searched before flying home !!.

John.

When my daughter was leaving Australia a few years ago, she nearly got into very serious trouble for having a piece of coral that she had picked up on the beach, in her luggage. The officer was threatening her with arrest, so Jennifer's evolutionary defense mechanisms kicked in -- she burst into tears -- and the officer let her go, with the piece of coral. I wouldn't be too surprised if they closely questioned a person exporting a 'piece of rock.'

[John]

When my daughter was leaving Australia a few years ago, she nearly got into very serious trouble for having a piece of coral that she had picked up on the beach, in her luggage. The officer was threatening her with arrest, so Jennifer's evolutionary defense mechanisms kicked in -- she burst into tears -- and the officer let her go, with the piece of coral. I wouldn't be too surprised if they closely questioned a person exporting a 'piece of rock.'

When I was visiting the Grand Canyon in 1989 I was severely admonished by one of the park Wardens for simply picking up one of the large fircones that you find there just to have a closer look at it - once they had calmed down and realised that I was not intending to stuff it into my rucksack, they explained that they were trying to enforce a "look but don't touch" policy because they get so many visitors looking for something to take away with them - having seen the volume of visitors they get at the major US attractions I can understand why.

I rather like the motto "Take only pictures, leave only footprints" that many popular natural visitor attractions now use.

John.